CTCD:Iain Hartley

Iain Hartley

A man and his spade (WARNING: soil scientist in action).

PhD Student at the University of York. Supervisor: Professor Phil Ineson
PhD topic: Carbon dynamics in forest soils - responses to global change: COMPLETED June 2006

Soil organic matter contains approximately twice as much carbon as the atmosphere and soil respiration is generally the largest flux contributing to total terrestrial ecosystem respiration. Model predictions suggest that the potential positive feedback of soil respiration to increased temperature will be a key factor determining the rate of global climate change. However, the temperature sensitivities of the different component fluxes of soil respiration may differ and rhizosphere respiration may primarily be controlled by photosynthetic activity. The temperature sensitivity of the decomposition of older soil organic matter is poorly understood and is of critical importance in predicting the magnitude and duration of any soil respiration response to global warming. With the aid of isotopic techniques and continuous monitoring of soil respiration in the laboratory we aim to increase our understanding of the importance of substrate supply and quality versus temperature in determining soil respiration rates.

Links
Full details of PhD Projects

Contact details

Area 2
Biology Department
University of York
Heslington
York
YO10 5DD
United Kingdom
e: iph106 at york dot ac dot uk
t: +44 (0) 1904 328594